Advanced education and training for local teachers in Cairo

Regional advanced education and training for local teachers — delivered in English — took place for the second time in Cairo at the end of 2016. The aim of the event format is to broaden the knowledge of quality requirements for teaching in German schools abroad among local teachers who speak little or no German.

Participants came together in Cairo from Egypt, Lebanon, the Palestinian territories, Israel and Kenya. Over three days they focussed on methods of co-operative learning and pupil feedback. For some participants this represented the first advanced education and training opportunity they had had, in some cases over periods of service spanning many years. The event was hosted by the German School of Borromeans.

The keynote speaker was Monika Ziemßen-Wiemann - not only an advanced trainer but also an expert in analysing the quality of teaching — who structured the seminar as a teaching session with theories and examples. Working together, co-operative forms of working were tried out, reflected upon and then considered as part of the specific lesson planning for the coming week.

By achieving some common ground regarding what represents "good teaching", quality development can be structured in a more sustainable manner. In addition to the advanced training, teachers are then advised on the application in everyday teaching of the competencies they have recently acquired. A follow-up event focused on consolidation is planned for the coming school year.

On behalf of the Foreign Office, the Federal Administration Office's Central Agency for German Schools Abroad (ZfA) currently supports 140 German schools abroad, 25 German profile schools and around 1,100 Language diploma Schools. It supports the schools from an educational, personnel and financial perspective and supervises quality-focused school development. The ZfA advises on establishing new schools with a German profile, on developing German teaching in local schools and on the introduction of German school qualifications in accordance with international standards.